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Michelle D. Bernard is the founder, president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy and is a frequent political and legal analyst on MSNBC and other television networks. Bernard is a regular political analyst with Hardball, Up, and The Daily Run Down. Additionally, Ms. Bernard appears on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and The McLaughlin Group. She is a regular guest commentator on BBC Radio, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin and is a contributor for The Hill’s Political Pundits Blog, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post’s She the People. Bernard is the author of Moving America Toward Justice: The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 1963-2013, Women’s Progress: How Women Are Wealthier, Healthier and More Independent Than Ever Before and is a contributing author to the National Urban League’s State of Black America and Lifetime Network’s Secrets of Powerful Women: 25 Successful American Politicians Tell How They Got Where They Are ­ And What It’s Like. In 2009, Ms. Bernard co-created, co-produced and hosted MSNBC’s historic television program, About Our Children, featuring Dr. Bill Cosby. The program, which explored poverty and education reform, aired on MSNBC on September 20, 2009. Ms. Bernard is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board forCertification of Teacher Excellence and the Coalition for Opportunity in Education and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Hampton University. Bernard is a member of the Women’s Forum of Washington, D.C. and is a 2003 graduate of Leadership Maryland. An attorney by training, Ms. Bernard concentrates on domestic and foreign policy matters. As a political and legal analyst, Ms. Bernard has spoken on topics as varied as the historic 2008 presidential campaign and election, various Congressional and gubernatorial campaigns and elections, the political participation and voting trends of African Americans and women, education reform and school choice, energy policy and security, foreign policy and national security issues, the war in Iraq, and advancing democracy, economic liberty, and the human rights of women and ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East. Ms. Bernard has spoken before numerous organizations and as the former president and CEO of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), founded IWF’s Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative, which assisted in the development and implementation of training programs built on the pillars of democracy, women’s rights and religious freedom, political activism in a democracy, issues of governance, free markets, and non-governmental organizations. Prior to founding the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy and joining IWF, Ms. Bernard was a partner at the District of Columbia’s Patton Boggs LLP. Ms. Bernard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and political science from Howard University and a Juris Doctor degree from The Georgetown University Law Center.

From his service in the U.S. Army to his creation of Charter Schools USA (CSUSA), Jon Hage’s personal life and professional career have been dedicated to service, leadership and creating systemic change.

Mr. Hage founded CSUSA in 1997 as a concept designed to impact the nation’s education system. Today, CSUSA is one of the largest school management companies in the United States. CSUSA employs approximately 5,000, educates nearly 50,000 students and is responsible for 58 schools in seven states.

Mr. Hage is recognized by many in the industry as being on the forefront of educational reform. In 2012, he was named the Floridian of the Year by Florida Trend Magazine.

Mr. Hage resides in Ft. Lauderdale with his wife and four children.

Entering urban education a decade ago, David Singer started his career as a high school math teacher. Within his first six years of teaching, Singer served as a founding teacher of two small high schools, one as part of a small schools initiative to convert a comprehensive high school into a group of smaller, high performing schools, and the other a turnaround in the heart of Denver, CO. While working relentlessly to change the life trajectories of high school students, Singer recognized the need to serve the same children in the same Denver community but at a much younger age. Entering the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a year-long, highly intensive leadership training program for future founders and leaders of game changing urban charter schools, Singer spent the next two years preparing tirelessly to launch University Prep, a K – 5th grade public charter school in the Curtis Park neighborhood of Denver. Opening its doors in August of 2011 to 110 kindergarten and 1st grade scholars, University Prep, now in its third year, serves more than 240 children from across the community in grades K through 3. The sole mission of the school is to educate every scholar for a four-year college degree, proving that demography is not destiny, and that all children have the right to a life of opportunity.

Jane Henzerling is the Founder and Head of School of The Mission Preparatory School in San Francisco, CA. She began her career as a bilingual elementary teacher in Phoenix, AZ, in 1998 and, following five years as a classroom teacher and staff developer, pursued roles in the fields of teacher professional development and non-profit leadership in Miami, FL, and Hartford, CT, in an effort to make a continually greater impact on academic opportunity for under-served students. Jane completed the Building Excellent Schools fellowship while working to design and found The Mission Preparatory School, which earned a charter from the California State Board of Education in September 2010. Mission Prep opened in August 2011 with 50 Kindergarten students – the college graduating class of 2028 – and is adding one grade per year to become a K-8 school. More than 80% of Mission Prep’s students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and 70% are English Learners. All of them will graduate from college.

Jane graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Spanish from Skidmore College and earned her MEd in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. She is the proud mom of a Kindergarten Mission Prepster.

For nearly 30 years, Dr. Tony Bennett has dedicated his life to educating students. He began his career in southern Indiana as a high school science teacher and basketball coach, quickly advancing to school administration while building a reputation as a leader with talent for school management, strategic planning, and effective budgeting. After serving as district superintendent, Tony was elected as Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2009. He also served as Commissioner of Education in Florida before starting Education Reform Strategies, LLC, a consulting company focusing on supporting cutting edge reforms.

As State Superintendent, Tony led Indiana through what most consider the most comprehensive, student-focused education reform initiatives in the nation. Focused on choice, greater accountability and freedom, a partial list of Tony’s accomplishments included the creation of the nation’s most-expansive school voucher program, developing one of the top-rated educator effectiveness programs in the nation, and boldly taking over failing schools. During his tenure in Indiana, the state saw record high school graduation rates and participation and success rates in Advanced Placement courses and exams. Student achievement on the state’s ISTEP assessment also rose dramatically during that same period. Bennett’s leadership quickly earned him a national reputation among government and education leaders. In 2010, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce named Tony Government Leader of the Year and, in 2011, The Fordham Institute named him Education Reform Idol.

Tony’s high expectations for students and commitment to involving community partners have also made him a key player in the national education reform efforts. He served on the board of the Council for Chief State School Officers, the governing board of the Partnership for the Assessment for Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), and was a founding member and former chair of Chiefs for Change.

He received his doctorate degree in Education and his Superintendent’s License from Spalding University. He earned his Certification in Secondary Administration and Supervision, a Master of Science in Secondary Education, and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Indiana University Southeast.

Dr. Rod Paige is a life-long educator and served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. As Secretary, Paige was an advocate of student achievement, employing “best of breed” solutions to achieve results towards the Department’s goal of raising national standards of educational excellence.

Paige earned his reputation for seeking out and implementing innovative approaches to systemic academic improvement when he served as Dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, where he established the University’s Center for Excellence in Urban Education. He has also shown a knack for inclusive leadership, first as a trustee and then as Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, then the nation’s seventh largest district. In 2001, he was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators. Following his time in the Cabinet, Paige served as a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2006 he authored The War Against Hope and most recently in 2010 published The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing it is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time. In his quest to improve the quality of education for all students, he is an active member of several highly respected boards including the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, The Broad Foundation, the American College of Education, the New England College of Finance and Business and the National Council of Economic Education’s Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, among other organizations. Rod Paige lives in Houston with his wife Stephanie Nellons-Paige.

Michael Moe is co-founder of GSV Asset Management, as well as its Chief Investment Officer. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO, and President of GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC) since the company’s inception in 2011.

Michael is well known and regarded as one of the world’s preeminent authorities on growth investing. His insights are routinely solicited by everyone from CNBC to Barron’s to Congress. Recognized as one of the best and brightest investors on Wall Street, his honors include Institutional Investor‘s “All American” research team, The Wall Street Journal‘s “Best on the Street” award, and being named by Business Week as “one of the best stock pickers in the country.”

He has also written extensively about investing in the emerging growth equity markets. His acclaimed 2006 book Finding the Next Starbucks: How to Identify and Invest in the Hot Stocks of Tomorrow (Penguin Group) details Michael’s investment process and philosophy which he’s refined over more than two decades in the investment community. A business best-seller, Finding the Next Starbucks has gone through three printings in five languages and been lauded for its insights into investing in premier emerging growth companies.
Prior to starting GSV, Michael co-founded and served as chairman and CEO of ThinkEquity Partners, an asset management and investment banking firm focusing on venture capital, entrepreneurial and emerging growth companies. Before ThinkEquity, he held positions as Head of Global Growth Research at Merrill Lynch and Head of Growth Research and Strategy at Montgomery Securities.

Gleason, James

Mr. Gleason is the Chairman of Gleason Corporation, a privately held machine tool manufacturing company with 2,400 employees in 25 different countries, founded by his great-grandfather in 1865. Mr. Gleason served as CEO of the Corporation from 1981 until 2002 when he stepped down from that position, remaining active as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Gleason served as Chairman of the Association for Manufacturing Technology and as a Director of the American Gear Manufacturers Association. Within the Rochester community he has served as a Director and Chairman of the Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman of the Rochester Business Alliance. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Rochester Institute of Technology as well as a Life Trustee of the University of Rochester. He was a former President of the Board of Trustees of The Allendale Columbia School and of the Board of True North Rochester Preparatory Charter School where he remains a Trustee. Mr. Gleason holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Rochester.

Gleason, Janis

Janis F. Gleason is the Vice President of the Gleason Foundation, a charitable family foundation based in Kentfield, California. Mrs. Gleason has served as President of the Board of the Rochester Garden Club and of Writers and Books, a Rochester Literary Center, and as Chairman of the Parent’s Council of The Allendale Columbia School. She is the author of The Life and Letters of Kate Gleason, a biography of the first female engineering student at Cornell University and her husband’s great-aunt, who served as Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Sales Engineer for the Gleason Corporation in the latter years of the Nineteenth and early years of the Twentieth Centuries. Mrs. Gleason attended the University of Arizona and the University of Rochester. Mr. and Mrs. Gleason reside in Greenbrae, California and in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and have two daughters.

Gleason, Tracy

Tracy Gleason is the President and CEO of the Gleason Family Foundation which is currently based in Kentfield, California. Her father, James, is the Foundation’s Chairman and her mother, Janis, its Vice President and Secretary Treasurer. Tracy grew up in Rochester, New York, the former headquarters of the Gleason Family Foundation. Her family settled there in the mid 1800’s, and in 1865 her great, great grandfather, William Gleason, an Irish immigrant, started the machine tool company, The Gleason Works (now Gleason Corporation). This company was the source of the wealth for the family foundation which had its beginnings in the 1950’s.

Tracy graduated from Princeton University in 1984 with a BA in French History. She moved to Northern California in 1988 where she worked as a corporate sales manager in the hospitality industry, then in the medical device industry where she focused on sales and marketing as well as training physicians in new products and surgical procedures.

Ms. Gleason joined the Board of the Gleason Family Foundation in 1995 and became its President in 2000. In 2007 she married Jeffery Robinson. Jeff is now a Director of the Foundation. Tracy and Jeff live in Marin County, California.

Barbara Dreyer is the president, CEO and co-founder of Connections Education® which she has led since January of 2002 to now serve over 50,000 full-time public school students through relationships with school districts and charter schools under its Connections Academy (for full-time virtual learning) or Nexus Academy (for full-time blended learning) school programs. Connections also works with hundreds of school districts, charter schools, state departments of education and private schools to provide individual courses, virtual speech therapy, services to homebound students, credit recovery courses and instruction, and private label virtual and blended school programs. Mrs. Dreyer is passionate about the continuing relevance and importance of teachers in virtual and blended learning models and has been active in advocating for more advanced data collection and growth measurement systems. For 12 years, Mrs. Dreyer was a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland University College, the largest public international provider of distance learning degrees, and served for 6 years on the Board of Visitors of Towson University, known for its teacher education programs, where she remains an emeritus member. In 2010, she was honored for “Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the field of Distance Learning” by the United States Distance Learning Association. In 2011, she received AdvancED’s Corporation and Distance Learning “Excellence in Education Award” and now chairs this international accrediting body’s Corporations and Distance Education Council. Her love of ongoing learning is shared by her wonderful family where her retired husband John has completed ten online university courses and is now an avid “MOOC” student; daughter Katie is a senior English and Religious Studies major at St. Mary’s College who has studied at Oxford; and daughter Chrissy is a freshman in the Brown University – Rhode Island School of Design dual degree program.

Barbara Dreyer at CER’s 20th Anniversary.